Top 5 Largest Historical Frauds: 

The "Nigerian prince" and the "rich widow benefactor" scams, as well as the recently popular Venmo, PayPal and dating-app cryptocurrency scams, have all been made possible by the internet. But even before computers existed, people were constantly looking for new ways to commit fraud. Here are our top five worldwide historical con stories:

 

28 con artists conned people across America into believing that a wealthy man called Jacob Baker of Philadelphia had passed away, leaving his estate without heirs, during this over 70-year-long fraud that ended in 1936. The con artists got in touch with individuals going by the name Baker and claimed to be the executors of the estate who would make a claim to the property for a modest charge. Approximately 3,000 people responded to the mail, giving the con artists close to $3 million USD.

 

The cheaters were subsequently apprehended, put on trial, and convicted in a court of law.

 

The original pyramid scheme's inventor, Charles Ponzi, was born in Italy and first arrived in Boston in 1903 with 2.50 USD. His early scams were limited to forging checks and aiding illegal immigrants, for which he received a five-year sentence in a U.S. prison. Ponzi discovered arbitrage in 1920 using five-cent international postal reply coupons. With the peso depreciating, there was a chance to gain money by redeeming coupons bought in Spain at a predetermined exchange rate for a nickel in the United States.

 

In order to do so, he solicited individuals from Europe's less developed nations to send him postage coupons, which he later sold in the United States for a profit.

 

Ponzi, however, wasn't content with merely robbing the government. He began recruiting common people by making them promises of returns on their investments ranging from 50% to 100% because he had bigger aspirations. Ponzi's claims drew in thousands of people, who trusted him with their money. Ponzi repaid previous investors with incoming funds from new ones, and many of them just reinvested their profits with him in the first place.

 

These kinds of disproportionate returns began to draw attention, and a probe by The Boston Post discovered that the operation was a fraud. When it was discovered that Ponzi had stolen up to $20 million from investors, he was sentenced to jail.

 

Later, he was returned to Italy through deportation.

 

William Thompson, a New Yorker who lived in the middle of the 19th century, is possibly the first person to have gained widespread recognition as a "confidence man"—a particular kind of fraudster who gained enormous popularity in the humming metropolises of the late industrial revolution. As a con artist, Thompson would use a technique known as a "confidence trick" to prey on the gullibility of people he encountered in the streets, bars, or other settings.

 

Thompson would approach people in a cordial manner, extend a greeting, and give the appearance that the two had previously met. Thompson would merely inquire after winning the respect of the target.

 

"Do you trust me enough to leave your watch with me until tomorrow?"

Unbelievably, it was successful. Before being apprehended by authorities, Thompson was able to repeat the ruse on other individuals.

 

The "you can trust me, give me your watch" method became so well-known that it served as an inspiration for an entire generation of confidence builders. Even while inside, Bertha Heyman continued to look for victims. Bertha's scheme was more complex than Thompson's and remarkably comparable to the "419 Fraud" of the present (aka the Nigerian letter scam). Heyman would assert that she had misplaced her vast money and required some financial assistance to recover it.

 

William Thompson's exploits as a "confidence man" ultimately gave rise to the term "con man," which refers to a swindler who uses charm to trick people into giving them money.

 

In 1889, the year of the French Revolution's 100th anniversary, the Eiffel Tower was built for the World's Fair. It held the record for 41 years as the highest building ever constructed by humanity at the time (until the Chrysler Building in New York surpassed it).

 

Victor Lustig discovered how expensive the tower's upkeep had gotten in 1925, when he was 35 years old. He then had the bright notion of selling the Eiffel Tower to a scrap metal merchant.

 

The most credulous scrap metal dealer in France is probably who Lustig got to provide a quote, and he even managed to get a significant bribe added in. He also got away with it because the scrap metal merchant was too embarrassed to report the fraud to the authorities. 

 

Following the con, Lustig boarded a train to Vienna carrying several suitcases full of cash. He believed the scam to be so successful that he relocated to Paris the following month to attempt it once more with a different scrap metal trader. He failed the second time, but he was still able to avoid capture.

 

Around the same time, George C. Parker in the US sold the Brooklyn Bridge and pulled off a similar trick numerous times. Toll booths that "buyers" sought to erect had to be taken down by law enforcement.

 

A guy in India by the name of Natwarlal rose to fame for having sold the Parliament Building, the Red Fort, and the Taj Mahal. 

 

In 1896, Alves dos Reis was born in Lisbon. And when he was 28 years old, he printed so much money for himself that he sparked a financial crisis that resulted in a military coup led by nationalists.

 

Reis asked the business that had previously created Bank of Portugal notes, Waterlow and Sons, to produce all the new money after forging a contract with the bank that allowed him to issue a fresh set of banknotes. The forgeries were flawless because the printers utilized authentic, original plates to produce the currency.

 

Reis ordered the printing of 200,000 banknotes, which is equivalent to around 2 billion USD in modern money and represents over 1% of Portugal's whole GDP. Nearly 50 percent of 500 escudo notes at one point were counterfeit.

 

Reis actually had so much money that the companies, properties, and high-end goods he purchased led to an economic boom.

 

Reis cleverly attempted to buy himself a share in the Bank of Portugal to retrospectively sanction his unlawful notes before using a bank he acquired in Angola, a Portuguese territory at the time, to launder the money. Reis was eventually discovered by reporters for the daily O Século, which is run by businessman Alfredo de Silva and saw Reis as a rival.

 

Few people thought Reis' scheme could have been accomplished by a single individual due of its vast scope. The government and the courts had suspicions that Reis had support from the German government in his attempt to seize power in Angola, in addition to corrupt National Bank personnel.

 

Reis was given a 20-year prison term, but he only completed 15. In 1955, a heart attack claimed his life.